#ozadia

Khleo sensed Kipling’s approach, but they didn’t move until they heard the loosening of robe and the soft rush of silk as it dropped to the tiles. Not until Kip smoothly wedged her leg under Khleo’s head and positioned them in her lap did Khleo finally open their eyes. They snuggled against Kip as she worked her fingers into their hair, detangling the barhand’s stubborn curls. 

Khleo was content to watch Kip with eyes half mast, taking in the soft parting of her lips and the wrinkle in her nose – signs of her concentration – radiating that sweet intensity that Khleo was always longing to touch.

Kipling asked Khleo how their night went and if they had a chance to have some fun in between shifts. Khleo said that they had, but they weren’t that tired; they could have a bit more.

Then they reached up to draw Kip in for a kiss. Though the angle was off and Kip wasn't expecting it, the two of them came together with ease and a quiet, familiar passion.

After a while, Khleo made a needy sound in their throat. Kip’s name tumbled from their lips in the form of a question. Kipling dragged the kiss on, pretending not to hear until Khleo’s question became a soft, raw beg meant only for the gardener’s ears.

When Kip answered, Khleo rolled until they were rightside up and wrapped their arms around her waist, following up with, “Tell me what you want.”

“To relax,” Kip chuckled as she surrendered and joined the barhand in the bath.

Khleo was all feline grins and evasive teases.

Yeah, yeah. Sure. 

They pulled Kip into the water, steadied her in their lap. They nuzzled the skin under her jaw and gently massaged her waist like they were testing bread for firmness.

“I just want to hold you,” Khleo whispered into Kip’s skin with none of that purring this time.

The gardener felt the barhand’s sincerity. She hugged their middle between her thighs and sank into their muscular embrace with complete trust, as she had countless times before. 

No more resistance lingered between them. Only warm water and deep, tender bonds. 

Every time Kip returned a kiss or fixed them with that syrupy gaze — in shyness, fondness, or both — Khleo’s whole body swelled with so much emotion and… with a very gentle, very profound sense of rest.

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Sun Bai didn’t stay.

He never stayed too long anywhere. Or with anyone.

“Mmm. Bai?” 

The person Bai was carrying bridal style finally stirred as he was leaving the palace grounds. Solo de la Vega pushed a wavy blue lock of hair off of his slightly damp brow. 

“Where are we going?”

The pirate adjusted the dressmaker in his arms and projected his answer with his mind.

[We’re meeting up with your sister. Go back to sleep.]

Solo blew a soft raspberry. “I can walk just fine.”

Bai didn’t bother to argue because Solo was already unconscious again, proving an unspoken point. 

The walk was kind of far, but the streets of Vesuvia were quiet and the moon was full and out. Bai easily found his way to the building with the restaurant on the top floor.

Soon he was easing into a booth across from Sascha de la Vega. Her brother had come alive again in order to kiss her on either cheek and exchange some words of familiarity. 

Then he stretched out along the dark leather seat, resting his head in his sister’s lap and choosing to sleep through what he had called “an improper breakfast at ungodly hours.”

Sascha and Bai were left alone to catch up. 

“Are you happy, Bai? I waited for you this time.” Sascha gently teased when the server brought over platters of hot vegetables and fried squid. 

Bai dug into the rice as soon as it touched the table.

“I am happy that you waited for me.” He said with a completely straight face, as opposed to his usual sneer.

Sascha leveled her gaze with Bai’s slate gray eyes. “What happened to your glasses?”

“I broke them.”

“What about the back-up pair that I packed with–”

[Those got broken too.]

Sascha shook her head. She reached for her bowl, but Bai scooped it up before she could touch it. He filled it up with rice, some onions and cabbage. When he got to the squid, he lifted a chubby piece over the table and offered it directly.

“Here, Sasch. Try this one.”

Sascha was painfully self-conscious as she bit down on the fried meat, terrified that some crispy bits would stick to the corners of her mouth.

“If you want my glasses to stay intact,” Bai said, “maybe next time you could come along and… keep an eye on me.”

Sascha leaned back, dabbed her mouth with a napkin, and swallowed that very delicious bite.

When the gunslinger averted her gaze and finally spoke, Bai arched an eyebrow in what might have been hopeful intrigue.

“. . . Maybe next time I’ll think about it.”

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Oz’mandias retired early to his chambers. These rooms were far from all of the entertainment and festivities, yet he could dimly feel the party winding down several floors beneath where he lay.

He knew even after all of the guests found their way home or unconscious, it would be a long while before he wasn’t alone anymore.

When the one he was waiting for finally made it back, his lips curled into a smile against the pillow.

“Was the night everything you were hoping it would be?”

There was a sudden, soft intake of breath.

“My gods, Oz. You’re still awake?”

Nadia said it with the lightest trace of laughter in her voice as she eased next to the grey mage. Before Ozy could respond, she grazed her palm against his forehead and pressed a kiss there.

“Then again, I suppose the sun sleeps for no one.”

Ozy found her lips. “And gems never stop shining… rubies especially.”

Nadia’s throaty hum sent vibrations between them. “I do not want to be a ruby at the moment. I’ve been shining for everyone all night long.”

“You’ve dazzled the crowds enough, haven’t you?” Ozy’s voice dropped a little towards the end, feeling the pressure of those unspoken expectations – of the even stronger ones that came from the self.

“I have.” Nadia breathed into his locs as they embraced.

Ozy agreed with her, his soft smile at odds with the excitement in his hazel eyes. He drew Nadia down beside him. “If you can stop being the gem that you are, then I want to stop being the sun. For now.”

Nadia pulled the blankets over them both. 

“Yes. For now… we sleep. Until the day calls us back.”

At first it was difficult since Ozy didn’t typically respond to delicate touches or kisses trailing down the back of his neck. Eventually, Nadia learned to consult Ozy’s familiar, Abaco, who showed her the spots on Ozy’s head where he liked to be scratched or massaged. The small bird also directed her in the scents that Ozy responded the best to.

Like waking the unconscious with smelling salts, Ozy’s concentration broke whenever Nadia walked by wearing a perfume or an oil laced with mango and lime.

Nadia found it amusing just as much as she found it gratifying.

Whenever he would finally disengage from his work, Ozy always apologized.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I was—”

Of course, Nadia didn’t need an excuse. She only needed Ozy. His laugh, his attention, his fiery whirlwind focus all on her. If only for a moment.

When Nadia could manage to steal these heartbeats of pleasure from Ozy, it made her days at court all the more smoother. When Ozy let her inside his orbit, she could speed through time. Or at least peek into the future, which she took back with her as motivation for the next time they would come together.

One day, Nadia had found Ozy in the library where she distracted him long enough for a brief spell of making out and something a little extra. He was helping her readjust her jewelry when he told her how consistently she made time stop for him. How he wished he could call on her when he wanted a break from the endless cycles that his brain forced him to exercise on.

“You don’t need my permission to ask for anything,” Nadia told him in earnest. “But you have it, Oz. Wholly, truly.”

She kissed him to emphasize her meaning, but she wasn’t so sure Ozy believed her, for he could be hard to convince when it came to matters of the heart. It wasn’t until some time later that Nadia realized her words had connected with him.

The Countess was in her tower — the one that brought her closest to her Gate without letting her completely cross over to the other side. She figured this way she could concentrate better on a series of disputes among foreign dignitaries.

The center of Nadia’s forehead burned with the effort that it took to play peacemaker as she pored over the letters.

They should just settle this over a duel and call it a day.

It was supposed to be a joke, but Nadia scolded herself all the same. That was her ex-husband talking, clearly. That was the way an older version of Vesuvia would handle the issue. Nadia needed to be better than that. Even in jest, she needed a new angle.

She would strive to rise above the old ways. Her city must rise with her…

Nadia did not notice the sound of the Door opening to her private space. She did not register the scent of lime, mango, and the deep traces of ocean water.

When pressure was applied to the jewelry in her hair, she paid it no mind.

Nadia only noticed how the heat at the center of her forehead subsided when she felt warmth and softness press against her neck.

Her mouth tried to form a greeting, but two palms folded over her throat, elevating her jaw and tilting her head back and back until…

Nadia let the quill slip from her fingers and relaxed into Ozy’s hands. He kept her head steady as he arched over her, eclipsing her face with his curtain of locs and kissing her in reverse.

This way his gold ring grazed Nadia’s top lip rather than her bottom one. His tongue found hers at a new angle.

When Nadia gave in and let go of a strangled sigh, Ozy backed off and gently repositioned her head. He left kisses on her ear, down her neck, along her jaw until she was fully upright.

Nadia closed her eyes, thinking there would be more. Surely there was more.

Then Ozy’s touch slipped away. Suddenly, Nadia registered the scent of mango and lime and heard the great hydraulic Door opening once again.

Nadia opened her eyes and whipped her head around to try to steal a glimpse. But she was too slow. And the burning was back.

This time the heat at the middle of her forehead felt less like an irritation and more like something she could aim at the task at hand.

Nadia chuckled to herself and returned to her work. She knew the fiery knot of concentration would not last for very long.

Ozy learned through his discovery of trapdoors that all Rooms were connected. The entirety of the cosmos – or at least the knotted sliver of it that the Doors chose to reveal to him – balanced on a shifting framework. There was no way he could explore it all. True, he had located all the Doors that faced outward, but it hadn’t taken him long to realize that there were Rooms within Rooms. One Door could lead to multiple Rooms. The walls of which could shift, dissolve, reflect, and stack itself. Then you had Quasi-Rooms and Beta Rooms. Fractional Rooms and Microscopic Rooms.

It was impossible to know them all.

And yet, Ozy strived to do it. Because how could he ever ignore every secret a Door protected when he could see the outlines of each and every gateway? They glowed for him whenever he passed by, whether he activated them with his gauntlets or not. 

At the moment, Ozy was desperate to get Kipling to see a single Door.

Thankfully, she knew how to meditate. How to concentrate. Ozy held his breath as he watched Kip’s third eye flutter open. Of course, he was the only one who could see this. To Asra and the three familiars that cavorted around in the Palace Conservatory, nothing was going on in the center of Kipling’s forehead right above her eyes.

But even after all that fluttering with potential, Kip’s third eye would always give up and return to its state of rest.

Ozy stifled a frustrated sound as he sat back and rubbed his palm over his eyes and the bridge of his scarred nose. He didn’t know what it was. Kip was definitely trying. It wasn’t like she didn’t possess the willpower.

So what was missing?

“Coz?” Kipling sounded dizzy. “Can we take a break? I think I’m starting to get a migraine.”

Ozy wanted to keep going. He had an urge to hold out as long as they both could. He wanted to really study Kipling and process this thoroughly. He wanted to think.

Still, another part of Ozy – one that stemmed from maturity and experience – insisted that no good would come of that. Kipling had done her best. She had reached her limit. If Ozy were to demonstrate impatience with her now, it would be the same as erasing all the progress she had made.

“That’s enough for today,” Ozy sighed, reaching over and patting Kip on the head. He expected her to swat his hand away, but when he didn’t, he fixed her with a look of concern.

“You’ve been really patient with me, Ozy,” said Kip, “but I don’t think I’ll be able to see the Doors as well as you can in just a few days.”

Ozy folded his hands in his lap. “You don’t need to see all the Doors, Kip. Just the glyphs on the ones that you intend to open.”

Kip chewed on her lower lip. “It doesn’t sound all that complicated.”

Ozy smiled. “It’s not.”

“Then why is it taking me so long?”

Ozy didn’t know. Not yet.

The grey mage gave the gardener something else to think about for the rest of the day. Some breathing exercises. They wouldn’t be all that helpful in this case, but she didn’t need to know that. Then the two umbras parted ways. 

Kipling left the conservatory hand in hand with Asra, his snake familiar curled about his shoulders. Taro took a little longer to bid farewell to Abaco before scurrying after Kipling and hitching a ride in the crook of her elbow.

Abaco flitted over to Ozy and followed him back inside the Palace. Ozy’s mind was still going, trying to pinpoint what was causing Kip’s block. He barely made it inside long enough to hear his soft soles echoing against the domed mosaic ceilings when he was approached by a familiar face.

Ozy offered a tired smile in Nadia Satrinava’s direction. When she asked him if he wanted to soak the afternoon off in a private, isolated bath chamber, he of course accepted. He had yet to enjoy the Palace baths. 

When Nadia followed up with another question, he didn’t think anything of where it was coming from. Or what it might mean. 

So he just said yes, of course.

Moments later, Ozy was stepping into the softly lit bath chamber wearing nothing but a thin robe. Standing directly across from him, stooping a bit to test the temperature of the water was the Countess. She was also robed with her hair completely undone. Her feet were bare and she was without makeup or adornments. It was then that Ozy realized that there was something potently vulnerable and private rising in the air.

“Ozy, I need to ask you an important question.” Nadia shook the water off her hand and straightened up. “Would you prefer us to bathe with our robes on or off?”

Ozy didn’t have an answer for her. He was thinking, trying to make connections to this moment and back in the days when he was right on the cusp of adulthood. 

“Ozy? It’s okay. Just tell me what you want. If this is making you uncomfortable–”

He blurted, “I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”

Nadia gathered her robe a little tighter around her as she approached the grey mage. Worry and concern clouded her features. She wanted to tell him that there was nothing wrong about being honest about how he felt in the moment, but Ozy was already rattling off faster than she had ever seen from him.

“I’ve declined invitations like this before and afterwards my companions stopped talking to me.” His eyes didn’t meet hers as he kept going. “They avoided spending time with me. As if I had declined our whole relationship, but I hadn’t. It was only a moment that I had said no to. One instance in time. There would be so much more, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t see it. And the times when I’ve accepted… everything seemed to happen so fast. It always started out nice, pleasurable even... but I always seemed to be a disappointment towards the end.”

“Ozy,” Nadia cut in. “Oz. Look at me.”

He did.

Nadia paused to inhale. Then softly, she said, “Let’s start from the beginning. Would you like to take a bath together?”

Ozy nodded with sincerity. “I would like that.” This time he meant it. Until now Ozy hadn’t realized how much he had been relying on the presence of the Countess to steady his nerves while he navigated uncharted waters with Kipling and her handle on grey magic.

Nadia cracked a small smile and moved one of Ozy’s beaded locs out of his eyes.

“If you want to keep the robes on, I will not take that as a rejection. If you want to take them off, we can move as slowly as you want. Just tell me what you decide. And if you ever want to change your mind at any point, I would never hold it against–”

Nadia’s voice became muffled against Ozy’s unexpected kiss. Her skin shivered under the robe as his arms snaked around her middle while his other hand coasted up her back and folded around the nape of her neck.

“Thank you,” Ozy said without breaking the kiss. “Your patience, your perception, your understanding – it’s so rare and wonderful that I’m often left feeling a bit overwhelmed.”

Ozy had no idea how overwhelmed Nadia herself was in that moment, what with him locking her against his strong, lean frame and muttering into her mouth, his gold ring, snug against his full lips, constantly taunting her to deepen the kiss.

But as much as Nadia wanted to move things forward, Ozy was still in a vulnerable place. She wouldn’t push him until he got everything that he needed out in the open.

“... always afraid that I’ll come on too strong. People might confuse the things that I’m genuinely curious about with…”

“Oz?”

“... for the longest I couldn’t understand why that would always happen…”

“Oz.”

“... easier to be alone sometimes, but I told myself that couldn’t be true. Not all the way at least. Not–”

Nadia pulled back. “Ozy. It’s okay.”

Ozy blinked owlishly, as if he had no idea just how long he’d been rambling.

Nadia’s ruby gaze softened. “You don’t have to explain yourself.” She leaned in and placed a tentative but lingering kiss to his slightly parted lips. “I hear you. Now…” 

She withdrew and gestured to the depression of steaming water behind them.